​There has been a lot of recent activity within the Business Innovation and Investment Programme. The Joint Standing Committee on Migration announced an inquiry into the Business Innovation and Investment Programme and the outcome of the review was announced last year. The key change was the introduction of a new visa stream; the Premium Investor visa which is a migration pathway for high-net-worth individuals searching for an expedited pathway and willing to commit a larger amount to complying investments. It requires an investment of $15 million but has no residency requirements and provides permanent residency after 12 months.

There were also changes to the Significant Investor Visa (‘SIV’) in terms of residency requirements and changes allowing ‘role swapping’ between the primary and secondary applicants to aid in meeting the residency requirements during the provisional visa stage. There have been changes to the complying investments; Austrade released proposed changes to encourage applicants to invest into more active areas of the economy. The proposed framework restricts ability to invest into residential real estate through managed funds and also requires higher risk investments such as; one million must be invested into early stage venture capital funds approved by the government, and one and a half million must be invested into managed funds that invest in small companies listed on the Australian stock exchange. These proposed changes take effect from the 1st July 2015. Austrade has been involved in a process of consultation with stakeholders on these proposals.

The report of the Inquiry into the Business Innovation and Investment Programme was tabled on 24th of March 2015. To read the report click here...